With the announcement of former head football coach Jonathan Smith becoming principal at McCracken County High School last month, the athletic department and Smith turned inward for his replacement.
Four-year assistant coach and offensive coordinator for the Mustangs, Tyler Brooks was tabbed as their guy, promoting him to head coach Wednesday afternoon and officially reintroducing him to the team he’s grown to love.
Brooks expressed his gratitude to the team for their dedication to off-season training during the transition period and let them know that with the new change, their values would stay the same. “It’s still Faith, Family, Academics and Football.”
“I’m pumped to be the head coach,” Brooks said. “This community is awesome. When I got here in 2020 I jumped right in, got involved with our youth league and our middle school so I’ve see progression. I’ve been through some great times as we played for two regional championships and seen some down times as well, so I know what it takes to get things on the right track.”
That right track has already begun as the Mustangs have improved year-over-year in the past two years under Coach Smith. And Coach Brooks plans on continuing that improvement now that he’s in charge.
“Coach Smith did a great job of building things back up in two years and leading us in the right direction so my job is to keep on those tracks and make use we are headed that way,” Brooks said.
Much of that action plan is going to be keeping the playing style the same that it’s been. Many of the Mustangs offensive play makers will return to action next season including Cooper Falconite at wide receiver, James Barragan at running back, Maddox O’Neal at quarterback, Daivon Dunbar at wide receiver and Cade Churchwell at tight end to name a few.
“We have a lot of returning skill guys,” Brooks said. “We will need to find a few pieces up front to help us out, but I don’t see too many things changing.”
“He (Coach Brooks) has always pushed me since I came in as a freshman,” Churchwell said. “As we’ve had coaching changes I’ve tried to help lead the team.”
For the seniors on the upcoming squad, Brooks will be their third head coach throughout their high school careers. Something he says isn’t fair to the players as he hopes his tenure as head coach is a long one.
“Our kids need to keep routines and when you change it, that’s when things tend to go haywire,” Brooks said. “So the more we keep that same routine and keep developing the way we are, it’s going to lead to success.”
Last season the Mustangs posted a 6-7 record including an impressive run in the 6A playoffs making it to the third round of play. The record was considerate improvement. During the first three years on the McCracken County coaching staff, the Mustangs have gone 2-9 (2022), 2-9 (2021) and 6-3 (2020).
Brooks started his coaching journey at Henderson County where he played high school ball as a Colonel. He spend his college days at Georgetown College where he was a two-time MSC All-Conference member and a team captain in 2015.
The Mustangs will get their first official game underway with their new head coach at the helm in the Rumble on the River against Paducah Tilghman on August 24. Their first home game of the season will be the following Friday when they host Apollo.